Help with capturing analog video

Jazzy88 · Post by **Jazzy88** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:54 am

Hi everyone!

I'm a newbie with a problem - imagine that! LOL Anyway, I'll give you as much information as I can - -please let me know what else you need in order to solve my problem.

I'm trying to convert all my VHS tapes to DVD using VS11. I've got the VCR attached to a DataVideo DAC-100 converter which is firewired to my computer. All the video files are being saved to an external 500GB HDD.

I'm trying to capture in DV mode as I plan on doing some editing later on. As I play the VHS tape the video plays fine in the capture preview window, however as soon as I hit the "start capture" button the video becomes choppy - almost stop and go. And the same thing happens to the audio. I was hoping that it was just happening in the preview window and that the captured video would play fine - but it didn't.

When I attempt to capture in MPEG mode everything works fine. If I didn't plan on editing I would just capture in MPEG and not worry about it.

Am I missing something or doing something wrong?

Clevo · Post by **Clevo** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:44 am

When you say "firewired" to my PC what exactly do you mean?

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:03 pm

It's strange you can capture in the DV-> Mpeg format (on the fly conversion) and not standard DV format.

In the Format box should say "DV" (not avi).

You may want to change some settings under "Preferences" (F6 Hotkey).
Under the Capture Tab:
Stop camcorder at end of capture = OFF
Ask before start capturing = OFF

Because you device cannot be controlled (dv converter device) you usually disable the program from trying to control the device because the program thinks it's a DV camcorder which can be controlled.

That may or may not work, VS11+ doesn't work with all passthrough devices, it's does work on my passthrough device. Also make sure you don't have some codec packs installed that can conflict with VS like the K-Lite Codec pack.

Jazzy88 · Post by **Jazzy88** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:39 pm

Clevo wrote:When you say "firewired" to my PC what exactly do you mean?

The video converter is connected to PC via a firewire card

DVDDoug · Post by **DVDDoug** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:14 pm

Did that device come with any capture software? If so, it's usually best to use the software that's specially made to work with your hardware. Some capture-hardware and capture-software just don't "play well together", and I'm not sure if Video Studio works with any analog capture devices. Once you have a digital file on your hard drive, you can use Video Studio (or any software of your choice) for edting and DVD authoring.)

...I looked at the DataVideo website, and I see "software guides" for several 3rd-party applications, but I don't see Video Studio listed.

When I attempt to capture in MPEG mode everything works fine. If I didn't plan on editing I would just capture in MPEG and not worry about it.

You may be able to edit MPEGs, but you are correct in trying to avoid them. MPEG has to be de-compressed and re-compressed for most "real editing", which can affect quality. And, VideoStudio can sometimes have other problems editing MPEGs... I have an MPEG-only capture card and I had to buy a special-purpose MPEG editor.

skier-hughes · Post by **skier-hughes** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:14 am

I'd try capturing with movie maker, preinstalled on your pc, make sure yu opt for dv.avi though
http://www.myvideoproblems.com/Tutorial ... DV-AVI.htm
Then report back with the results.

skier-hughes · Post by **skier-hughes** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:15 am

Also fill in your system details, simply saying XP doesn't help that much

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Help with capturing analog video

Help with capturing analog video

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